Tom Garland

9.3

+1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A splendid dark ruby red color. On the nose: Intoxicating/intense nose of black fruit, dark currants, worn leather, forest floor, coffee grounds, minty dark chocolate. Taste: smooth, satiny, structured, balanced wine with chocolate covered brambly blackberry, tobacco, earth, cedar, black pepper, and a herbal licorice long finish. A medium body old world style wine that shows well right now and should continue to provide more years of enjoyable sipping. — 5 days ago

with Brenda

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2001 vintage. Nice fill and great cork. Opened and decanted. Expected sed but fairly minimal compared to a Cabernet-based wine. Beguiling nose. Light-medium body that had dropped any extra fat long ago. Spiced plum definitely afoot. Tasted after 15 mins open, 1 hour open, 1.5 hrs open and 8 hrs open. Remarkably consistent. Likely another half-decade at this plateau before dropping down. 10.16.24. — a month ago

GaryWEdwards

9.5

Has finally entered a the period to enjoy with patience rewarded. A nice nose of earth, dark berries, and florals. Nice long finish with a bit of plum coming through. An hour decant to the benefit of the wine. — 2 months ago

carl thornblade

9.5

No problems noted despite the age. Very good, but not outstanding. The nose was great at about 30 minutes-1 hour in the glass. The nose seemed to fade over the evening, but still very nice. Acidity is notable. Earthy flavors, tobacco, dried fruit. Great experience trying a 41 year old vintage! — 2 months ago

Tom Garland

9.3

1 hour decant(decent chunky/fine sediment). A striking still dark purplish magenta with some bricking. On the nose: beautiful perfumed notes of dark fruit, spearment, stewed meat, worn leather, smokey earth. Taste: smooth, creamy, balanced, silky wine with some black raspberry, earth, mocha, metallic, and a long licorice black tea finish. YUM! Past it's peak for any fruit fans, but still some time with the tertiary/secondary flavors. — 4 days ago

with Brenda

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

1990 vintage. Excellent fill and halfway saturated cork. Used a Durand but surmise a regular waiter's friend, wielded carefully, could have done the trick with the cork. Decanted and tasted after 30 mins, one hour and two hours. Some obvious sed but not troublesome or overtly noticeable. Original owner-château direct on original release. Super cold cellar because this was lagging noticeably behind other '90's and LB's. Bigger tannic structure (for a generally feminine-styled house) than anything save a Latour, Mouton, Ducru Left Bank property. Even more guts than Lynch-Bages or Pichon-Baron '90's currently stored above 55 or so degrees. Surprising but made sense. Light-medium body. Appropriate color. 3-4 years left in this stage unless larger format in play. Slight, fleeting burst of richness in the frontal palate and a tad brickish and then it just flowed on, without speed bumps. A little cocoa powder and cedar/tobacco. Suspect 750ml specimens not stored as cold/religiously will be showing more in the 9.0-9.1 range and farther down the backside of the bell curve. 10.26.24. — a month ago

Bessie Blocher

9.0

Has some nice fruity notes. — 3 months ago

Vijay Parikh

9.1

With a three hour decant still very tannic and stemmy. Probably needs another five plus years — 18 days ago

"Odedi"

9.7

#AgedWineTuesday

Dark ruby in color with a short reddish rim. Not showing much age.

Gorgeous nose, and dry and fruity on the palate with medium acidity.

Showing blackberries, black currants, black cherries, cedar, cola, licorice, light vanilla, light coffee, chocolates, earth, black pepper and tobacco leaf.

Long finish with fine grained tannins.

What a wonderful surprise. This 23 year old Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley is drinking fantastically.
Elegant and fruit forward. Rich and extracted. Soft and smooth.

Good right out of the bottle, and so much better after an hour in the decanter.

Wine Enthusiasts 94 points. Robert Parker 97 points. Wine Spectator 98 points.

Showing great complexity at this point, and will continue to age nicely in the next 10 years.

A great sipping wine. Just gorgeous.

A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.

14.1% alcohol by volume.

97 points.

$230. — 9 days ago

Victor Hsu

9.0

A good, solid California Cab but what’s all the fuss about? I’m seeing ratings of 98, 99, even 100 from JS. Really? No way. This is a clear case of praise crossing over into hype. Granted, still a bit young and not at its peak but after five years in the bottle and an hour of decanting it needs to be more than just fine if it wants to justify stratospheric scores. This wine compares unfavorably to Ridge Monte Bello, Stags Leap Cask 23 and other peers. It lacked sophistication and poise—where’s the promised minerality, graphite, cedar shavings, oak, leather, blackcurrant, cherry, and complex balance of fine grained tannins, fruit, acid and alcohol? Where? We chose this wine for a birthday dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Not a disaster but a disappointment given our high expectations (and the high price).
— a month ago